1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital camera apparatus, for example, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) with a digital camera, a palmtop PC (Personal Computer) with a digital camera function, a laptop PC with a digital camera function and a telephone with a digital camera function and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a digital camera, because of a fact that it can be used conveniently, many images are photographed frequently. However, it is also a fact that processes for arranging and classifying the photographed images after photographing become cumbersome. As a solution to this cumbersomeness, there has been developed a digital camera which associates a TEXT or a voice with the image and carries out automatic process by a personal computer or a server. In such digital camera, a method of downloading a list previously created on the personal computer to the digital camera and associating the image by means of selecting a name of item of the created list at the time of photographing, or a method of downloading a content created by a software keyboard using touch panels to a Exif (Exchangeable image file format) file at the time of photographing, have been performed.
In addition, although there is cumbersomeness of inputting by the software keyboard, such a method in which standard phrases are stored to an external memory or to an internal memory beforehand, and can be easily selected by operation of touch panels or keystrokes, has also been performed.
Furthermore, for business use, there has been a demand for recognizing a printed code such as a bar code used for product identification and adding information to the photographed image by associating the photographed image with the printed code.
As a typical example for the prior art, there is an image recognition system which displays a display frame used for a guide on the personal computer and the like by providing a camera as an inputting device, and processes the recognition on the personal computer and the like after scanning the image (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid Open No. H9-185695). Also, there is a reading device which photographs the image and then performs the process of recognition (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid Open No. H9-114913).
However, in conventional digital cameras including the above mentioned prior arts, there has not been existed such a digital camera which recognizes a code which corresponds to an object during a series of photographing operation, and determines the recognition similar to determination of the photographing operation after displaying a result of the recognition. Accordingly, such a digital camera which is capable of photographing the object after unfailingly recognizing the code which corresponds to the object, and unmistakably carrying out the association between the printed code and the image of photograph, is called for.